Olivia – Ian Falconer

Olivia is a pretty cute book about a rambunctious little pig-girl. She has boundless energy which results in her frequently wearing people out (most notably her mother). I’ve given it the Bechdel, even though “Mummy” isn’t a real name, because it kind of is in kid-world. All the characters are pigs though, so there is no real way to measure diversity.

It’s neat though. Olivia is a fiery little girl who gets into mischief, paints on walls when she shouldn’t, makes truly epic sandcastles, and obviously has quite an imagination. There’s quite a lot to her, given how simple the book is, which is pretty cool.

And it has that “you’re a ratbag but I love you” thing going on between her and her Mummy, which is one of my favourite things. The relationships between Olivia and her parents, and her little brother Ian feel really genuine and believable, which is always nice. In real life even the best families sometimes get sick and tired of each other, but there is always that underlying love. And that’s the important thing.

The illustrations are fairly sparce (lots of white space!) and simple, but they still manage to complement the text, and add to the story.